


The Long Con

by callous_and_misunderstood



Series: Drabble Collection [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: and so they have to get a family of their own, but sometimes the kids don't know that, chosen family, chosen family is the most important, villains don't love their kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27444715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callous_and_misunderstood/pseuds/callous_and_misunderstood
Summary: Family is the real long con-- but villains don't love their kids, do they?
Relationships: Jay & Evie & Mal
Series: Drabble Collection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041474
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	The Long Con

Jafar knew how to play a long con. Yes, a quick smash and grab might pay off sooner, but there was something to be said for a long-awaited result. He had passed that bit of wisdom on to his son, Jay, hoping that someday his spawn would prove to be a worthwhile investment.

At the moment, though, Jay was once again proving more of loss than a win for Jafar. The boy was cowering at Jafar’s feet, waiting for the beating Jafar had promised after Jay had failed to bring back the set quota of stolen loot to sell at the junk shop. But Jafar wasn’t striking, and Jay was growing more impatient by the second. He had plans to meet up with Mal and Evie, and didn’t want to keep them waiting. But Jafar, to Jay’s utter shock, lowered his hand.

“…Dad?”

“Shut up,” the aging man muttered, turning away from the boy. “All you’ll ever be to me is worthless. I should have known, shouldn’t have even kept you. This time the long con wasn’t worth anything.”

Jay sat upright, jaw slack. He knew his father viewed him as a burden but. To hear it in explicit terms hurt more than he thought it would.

“Just get out,” Jafar gestured at Jay, not looking at him. “Get out before I do something… something.”

There was a harsh malice in Jafar’s tone that warned Jay he needed to move before the cobra struck. He wouldn’t put it past his father to kill him, or to beat him to almost dead. So Jay scrambled out of the junk shop, barley making it to his feet before he was sprinting away.

Jay burst into the hideout ungracefully. Mal and Evie were sitting at the table, bent over plans for a scheme they were developing, but both shot up as Jay closed the door behind him. He dragged the deadbolt into place then shakily took a seat next to the girls.

“Jay? Is everything…okay?” Evie asked tentatively.

Jay stared at the table for a long moment, trying to gather his thoughts. He had suspected for a long time that Jafar didn’t love him, based on the impossible quotas he set for Jay to bring into the shop everyday, and the ruthless beatings and never-ending demeaning comments. But today had shown Jay what he didn’t really want to admit, even after all the years of abuse. His father…wanted him dead. Or worse. Jafar just didn’t care about him at all.

“When did you know that your parents…don’t love you?” he asked quietly.

Evie and Mal looked at each other.

Jay had never really talked about Jafar with the two of them, besides the general complaining. The girls had seen the bruises and scars but let Jay keep it to himself. No sense in wounding his ego over parental issues. The two of them knew no villain was truly cut out to be a parent, but some put in the effort. They had hoped Jafar had fallen somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. But here was Jay, trembling in front of them, proving them wrong.

“Mommy doesn’t love,” Evie said carefully. “She curates. Everything has to fit into place or she doesn’t want it there. And I’m just an extension of that.”

She smiled tightly, looking at Jay. Evie didn’t say any more, but Jay had held her through some vicious panic attacks involving her mother’s perfectionism.

“Well,” Mal said softly. “I think I finally figured it out when I was seven. Mom had been trying to figure out a way around the barrier so she could at least use some of her magic. She went to Nowhere, to her old lair. And I followed her. I guess I was hoping I could help or she would teach me magic, too, or something. But I got hurt, trying to follow her. And she was so furious. I had never seen her that mad. And then, she just left me. In the middle of Nowhere, to get home by myself. Took me four days to find my way back. And she was genuinely surprised that I came back, like she really expected me to die out there.”

Jay looked at Mal intensely the whole time she was speaking. Mal, especially, was not given towards moments of vulnerability. That she had so willingly shared wasn’t what Jay had expected, even though he knew it was true. He had secretly hoped if Maleficent was a decent mother than Jafar’s dismissal hadn’t meant anything.

“Did Jafar…do something?” Evie asked quietly.

Jay locked his jaw. His story was no where near as dramatic as Mal’s, or long lasting as Evie’s. He let the silence extend as both girls waited patiently for him to speak.

“Just...said I was worthless. Wasn’t worth keeping,” he mumbled.

“Oh, Jay,” Evie said, placing a hand on his arm. “Jay.”

“You’re not worthless,” Mal said matter-of-factually. “Jafar is an idiot if he can’t see that.”

Jay shrugged, trying to keep tears from spilling. He hadn’t realized how alone he had felt with Jafar. How miniscule and stooped he felt around his father. But with the girls, he felt like wasn’t going through the world as a shrunken version of himself. He felt complete.

“Thanks,” he muttered, blushing. This was really not how he thought he would be spending the night.

“We’re our own family, Jay. The three of us,” Evie said.

Mal nodded her agreement.

“And now, as a family, we have some evil scheming to do.”


End file.
